( open ) you are descended from animals

[hyperkinesia]

Who: Bruce Banner and anyone!
When: First half of March.
Where: Several places around the Moira.
What: A general catch-all if anyone wants to run into him on the ship since he won't be going down to the planet at all.
Warnings: None for the moment, will update if need be.
( a note: I'm good with both brackets and prose, so just pick whichever you prefer and I'll match! )

WORKING; SCIENCE DEPARTMENT.

Things seem a little calmer now, and while that leaves Bruce feeling wary of what might yet happen, it also offers him a semblance of peace and quiet. The planet seems interesting but not very welcoming, and for that reason he decides not to go down there and visit himself, opting for staying on the ship and spending a good amount of his time in the science department.

Especially as he starts getting data from the planet, helpfully provided by Clark, he dedicates himself to putting together a file with all the thorough information, as well as building a holographic projection of the surface, based on the images and sensors Clark got him. It's exciting work to him, even if it might not seem like much to some, and he can often be found at the department, poring over all the images and information collected.

TRAINING & MEDITATING; OBSERVATION DECK, GARDENS, RECREATION AREA.

It's not all work for him, though. He knows he can't push himself past a certain point of exhaustion, and even if things seem calm right now, it's always good to keep practicing a little, and keep himself well in check. His favorite meditation spot is the observation deck, and he's likely to be found there more often than not, sitting on a small blanket, legs crossed and hands resting over his knees. The gardens are also a close second, and he goes there a few times too, enjoying what little of nature they have on board.

At the recreation area, he makes use mostly of the pool about once a week, going for a few leisurely laps at odd hours, when the place happens to be empty - or close enough to it.

MEALS & DUTIES; MESS HALL.

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday afternoons are spent doing his duties at the mess hall, clearing out tables and making sure there's always food at the buffet for people to help themselves. Outside of that schedule, he can be found there during meal hours, sitting by himself and more often than not reading some file or, most likely, a book.

WILDCARD; ANYWHERE.

Run into him on a corridor, spot him at the library, what have you - Bruce regularly visits different areas of the ship so it's not unlikely for him to be spotted in a myriad of different places. Go wild!

Comments

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

"Someone who works here. But it's not important anymore," She hums and follows him, stopping to stand in the door frame. She gives the solid walls a good knock with her knuckles and looks curiously around the inside of the cage.

"What's this? Something you've build?"

[hyperkinesia]

Bruce nods and lets the subject drop there, not asking about it further. Either J doesn't want to say or it really doesn't matter; one way or the other, it's not in his nature to pry.

"It's a cage," he starts, facing away from her for a moment, then lowering the scanner eventually. A quick glance thrown her way, he drops his head, eyes firmly set on the device in an attempt to avoid looking at her at all as he goes on. "I didn't build it, no. Other crew members built it for me."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

J likes Danny yes, and she knows that the feeling is mutual between them. So, she really wouldn't have minded telling more about him if Bruce had decided to ask. But none of that is really important right now, after all she does like Bruce more than anyone else on this ship. This situation is weird and even unnerving to some degree, as she can't remember the last time she has had this many people around her who appeared to like her so that she could put them in order like this. But what scares her the most here is how fast she's willing to let her guard down around Bruce and simply trust in him.

"A cage?" Well, she can see that this is certainly build to hold something in. However, what he says next doesn't make any sense to her at all.

Build for him? What does that even mean? J thinks to herself and knits her brows in confusion. Without saying anything, she knits her brows together and waits for him to explain.

[hyperkinesia]

Bruce of all people knows what it's like to put up barriers, to not want to let his guard down with anyone, so he wouldn't and couldn't possibly hold it against her if she did that, with him or anyone. On the other hand, he would also be glad to know she feels that way towards him, as not only does he like her too, but he also feels like she really has no reason to keep up her defenses around him. He hopes never to give her cause to feel like she needs to, either.

"That's right. For something big, something... dangerous." His words drag a little, and he knows he's just putting off telling her the whole truth. For fear of what she might think, how she might look at him— it wouldn't be the first time people draw away from him because of his condition, and he couldn't possibly blame her for it if she did too.

But there's no point in dragging it on. She'll find out eventually after all, putting it off will only work against him, and considering the alternatives, this may just be the best and easiest way for her to learn about the Hulk. He lowers the device, and turns to face J properly, shoulders fallen in slight defeat. "It's for a monster that lives inside me. A real monster, not— not a metaphor."

forever sorry. i swear i didn't forgot about this D:

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

J stares him in a silence for a while, trying to understand what he's telling her. She's not quite sure if she gets what he means by when he says that there's a monster inside of him. The first thing that comes to her mind from the 'monster' is violence, unsurprisingly-- but Bruce is probably the last person she'd associate with that term.

But whatever he's trying to tell her is important and J can see that. All the nervousness in his movements, clumsiness in his words and the heavy tension inside of the cage only signals one thing to her: trust. Trading 'secrets', maybe? He knows about her and now she knows about him.

Tilting her head to side, leaning it against on the cage's wall, J summons a playful smirk to her lips. "A cage for a monster inside you? You might want to be a bit more specific, because I could read that very wrong."

it's okay! :)

[hyperkinesia]

The answer is nothing short of what he'd expect, coming from J. This time, though, there's no embarrassment in his reaction, no moment of awkward smiling or fumbling for words. He sighs, quiet and resigned, shoulders slumping as he looks down, lips caught between his teeth.

He ponders his options. Explaining is always the easiest way, of course— but even then, some people have a hard time imagining what exactly Bruce means, especially when they come from worlds where such a transformation is impossible (never mind it should be impossible in his own world, too; apparently impossible is nothing there). His gaze settles on the MID around his wrist, and hesitation gives way to an idea.

Not a perfect idea, mind, but given his options... it'll paint a much more vivid picture for her.

Lifting his arm, he starts tapping at the MID, a small holographic screen popping up as he looks through the network. He remembers the date of the particular broadcast he's looking for all too well, and when he finds it at last, he makes his way over to J, turning the screen towards her just so before he hits play.

It's not a video he likes to share at all, when it brings up the horrible memories of what happened in Caducus Primary, and when it comes with the rather unpleasant (but well-deserved) commentary of the person who shot that footage. But it's the only one he has here, and at least it's a short one, over after only a few seconds.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

J moves closer to take a better look at the video footage playing on his MID. At first, when there's only buildings and people running in the panic, she only knits her brows-- still not quite getting what he's trying to tell her with all of this. But then she sees the buildings starts coming crashing down, there's a roar in the background and then she sees the something big and green moving fast around the fallen buildings. Her jaw drops in bewilderment and she raises her hand to point a finger at the screen and the the green monster on the screen. She's just about to ask him about the monster when she hears a woman's voice saying: '-- coming back to the ship with me and then he turned.'

Oh.

Slowly, she raises her eyes to meet Bruce's and then points at him, looking absolutely dumbfounded. And just for a brief moment, she stays quiet as she tries to digest the information and the revelation she had just been feed. But then her expression softens, turning into more understanding.

"That's one hell of a party trick, Bruce."

[hyperkinesia]

Bruce closes the feed and the network once the video reaches an end, lips stretched into a thin line as she points at him in realization. He doesn't confirm it, because he knows he doesn't have to. She understood that the monster in that feed is the monster Bruce was telling her about, the monster he has inside of him.

Her remark gets no answer from him, as he turns his attention back to the scanner in his hand, walking farther inside the cage again, more or less facing away from J.

"That was Caducus Primary," he starts, and though he figures she knows what happened there, he still goes on to add. "He destroyed it. The whole planet— he destroyed it all, it's gone."

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

Caducus Primary. The name sounds vaguely familiar, probably something she picked from the network, and even though she can't quite remember just who she did she hear mentioning it she still remembers a rather heavy and uneasy tension behind their words when talking about it.

Well, this certainly explains it.

J doesn't follow him when Bruce takes steps away from her, letting him take his own space. "He." She repeats, not quite able to keep the perplexity out of her voice. "So that's not you, then?"

[hyperkinesia]

Caducus Primary sounds familiar to just about anyone on board. It's relatively recent too, and one doesn't easily forget watching a whole planet fold in on itself. Even the more recent arrivals have heard of it, even if they might not know the whole story, but Bruce doesn't ask her if she does. She knows now, or at least she knows the short of it. He doesn't get into details, not now.

His lips press into a thin line, hands lowering the scanner, eyes dropping to the floor. From behind she can see his shoulders rise and slump with the deep breath he takes.

"Sometimes I'm not even sure anymore."

As if every transformation he goes through, especially the unwilling ones, that line he drew between himself and the beast fades a little more; as if each time he crosses that line he loses a little more sense of where he ends and the other guy begins. It's a terrifying thought sometimes, and incidents of the magnitude of Caducus Primary almost completely erase that line, force him to work on drawing those limits and setting up those boundaries all over again.

[gentlemenpreferblondes]

J really wants to believe that she understands what he means by that.

She thinks of the movies she's seen; she remembers the one from her childhood, one that she had seen when she sneaked inside of the movie theatre, that was about scientist drinking some potion that made him become 'two people.' And then there was the horror movie that came out about a year ago in New York-- a movie where a shy man, who killed a woman while believing to be his own mother. She also tried to remember news articles she had read back at home about delusional people who hurt others.

They weren't quite the same as Bruce's situation, she knows that, but still they helped her to understand what him. Some what.

"We really are one, big group of outcasts and freaks." J says, keeping her tone light and joking. "It's almost like we're on a flying circus." It's not exactly the nicest thing to joke about, but she hopes that he catches the meaning behind her words. The implication that they are the same.

[hyperkinesia]

They're not the same, as far as Bruce's concerned. Not that that's a bad thing, in fact Bruce is incredibly glad that no one else has to suffer through the condition he has, that they don't have to deal with consequences far greater and heavier than any man should be able to even carry on his shoulders. He's buckled underneath the weight more than just a couple of times in the past, he knows he will in the future again, but the monster's always there, always making sure Bruce drags that weight around nonetheless.

So no, it's not the same; but Bruce appreciates the sentiment nonetheless. He smiles a little, brushes off the lack of tact in her remark— that's never bothered him when coming from people he likes and trusts, much like Tony, like J, and he too has been tactless towards his own condition and towards other people plenty of times before. He doesn't mind it in the slightest.

"I was going to say at least they don't make us put on a show at every stop, but..." Well, the events that go down every month, either on planets or on board the ship, always tend to force them into particularly unpleasant situations that are almost like a sick twisted version of 'putting on a show'.

"Anyway, this is... for him," he gestures vaguely at the cage. "It was built right after Caducus Primary. They couldn't bring him back into the ship without some safety measures in place, so he was floating in outer space for a while until this was ready." And in case she's wondering: yes, he did survive that. Evidently.